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On March 28 I am teaching a course in hand tool woodworking. It's a beginner's course where you will dimension and square lumber completely by hand, cut mortise and tenon joints, cut half-blind and through dovetails by hand, fit a drawer, french polish and in the end have a side table with a drawer very much in the style of the Shakers. You will have practiced all of the skills necessary to build furniture completely by hand.There is one spot left open in the class as of yesterday.

Becoming a Hand Tool Woodworker: Build a Side Table

It’s about building stuff. It’s not about dovetails or mortise and tenon joints. It’s about building things with your hands. It’s about honing skills and learning old ways of doing things. It’s about getting sweaty and making functional pieces of art.

Come learn with me about woodworking in a shop where you can listen to soft music and talk with your family or friends while dimensioning lumber. Come and experience the joy of using tools that don’t require hearing protection and don’t have safety warning stickers attached.

Together we will each build a side table in the style of the Shakers. The class will teach you to turn rough sawn lumber into furniture without plugging anything into the wall. Learn to work wood the way your grandfather did, with handsaws, planes and chisels.




For $550.00, which includes the lumber, you can learn and build a Shaker side table with a dovetailed drawer.


Prerequisites for this class:

1. Be excited about building furniture
2. Either own or be prepared to own the kit of tools (I suggest that you not purchase new tools prior to the first session)
3. Not be afraid to sweat and get out a little of breath now and then
4. Be ready to have fun and learn  

What to bring to the first session, don’t buy anything just bring what you have:

1. Notebook
2. Pen
3. Chalk or Carpenter’s pencil
4. ½” Bench Chisel
5. Combo square
6. Rip Saw
7. Crosscut Saw
8. An empty box for transporting your lumber
9. Wire brush
10. A water container with a top, sips at the fountain will not be sufficient but spills are a disaster. Bring this to every session. It might be wise to pack a snack in there too, you are going to work.

Contact Woodcraft of Grand Rapids at 616-957-9663